Indices of mineral metabolism in subjects with an impaired glucose tolerance.
An altered mineral metabolism has been described both in insulin dependent and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. In order to investigate if a disturbed mineral homeostasis was an early feature in the development of diabetes, 52 middle-aged men who all had recently developed an impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) were compared to healthy control persons. The IGT subjects showed higher levels of serum calcium (2.38 +/- 0.081 mmol/l (SD) vs 2.35 +/- 0.065 in controls) but similar levels of plasma ionized calcium indicating an increased protein binding of serum calcium in IGT. Serum magnesium was significantly lower in the IGT subjects (0.79 +/- 0.060 mmol/l vs 0.85 +/- 0.065, p less than 0.001) while serum phosphate was unaltered. This study demonstrates indices of an impaired mineral metabolism in IGT subjects similar in characteristics to what has previously been reported in manifest diabetes mellitus suggesting that an alteration of mineral homeostasis could be part of a primary event.
Lind
L
L
Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
Lithell
H
H
Hvarfner
A
A
Ljunghall
S
S
D004573:Electrolytes / Q000097:blood*; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D004573:Electrolytes